Car-seal.



Pat'e'nted Feb. II

c. s. ELLIS; g

C A R S E A L (Application filed Oct. 15, 1900.)

(No Model.)

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PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES s. ELLIS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CAR-SEAL.

srncrrrcazrron forming tor Letters Patent No. 692,836, dated February 11, 1902. Application filed October 15, 1900- herial No. 33,179. (No model.)

'To all whom it may concern);

Be it known that I, CHARLES S. ELLIS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ohicago, in the'county of Cook and Stateof Illi: nois, have. invented a new and useful Car- Seal,,of which the following is a; specification.

My inventionrelates to improvements in seals used for fastening the doors of'freight,

cars.

The objects of my improvement are, first, to provide acar-seal made fromasingle piece of metal, so as to permit of cheap manufacture,

and, second, to provide a sealwhich-will make it impossible to open the door of the car to which the seal is attached without destroying the seal itself. I'attain these objectsby the use of the device shown in the accompanying drawings. a

In the drawings,'Figure 1 is a plan view of a blank properly stamped out from which the seal is made. Fig. 2 is atop view of the chamber of the seal after the blank has been folded over along the lines 6 and E and the flanges thereof a: have been crimped over the flanges 3 Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the blank as shown in Fig. 1 along the line Fig. 4 is a side View of the chamber of the seal and a part of the locking-band after the blank as shown in Fig. 1 has been folded along the lines 6 and and the flanges have been criinped over the flanges y. Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section along the line 5 5 in Fig. 2 of the seal when the locking-band has been inserted within the chamber of the seal and fastened therein upon the bent tongue B. Fig. 6 is a top view of the seal locked looking down into the chamber thereof. Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the chamber of the seal along the line 7 7 in Fig.6.

' Referring to the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1, which represents theblank from which the seal is formed, though ofone piece, consists of several sectionsnamely, a strap or binder B, having cut through the end thereof an aperture A, preferably rectangular in shape; second, the portion B, provided with flanges as, adapted to be bent over along the grooves g g; third, theconnecting-strip B fourth, the portion 133, provided withflanges y and y, adapted to be bent along the dotted lines Z and Z; fifth, the section B, being substantially of the same width as the bindingstrap B and adapted to be bent along the dotted line L, and, last, a tongue, which I divide into two portions I3 and B, which is adapted to be 'bent along the dotted line L. Thisblank may be made of tin, soft sheetiron, or other. suitable metal. It may be stamped'o'ut in the first instance by'a proper dieiii the form shown in Fig.1, with grooves out in the stock along the lines g g, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, and with depressed portions, as C and 0, upon the parts of the blank hereinbefore designated as B? and B. The grooves g are for the purpose of weakening the stock, so thatwhen the flanges 00 have been bent over upon the flanges y they cannot be bent back into theiroriginal positions without breaking the stock along the line of the grooves. The rectangular portions y, lying between the dotted lines 'Z and Z, are stamped, so as to rise at a substantial right angle from the plane of the portion' B the angle being along the line Z. The flanges y extend outwardly at right'angles to the portions 'J and parallel to the plane of the portion the angles being formed along the line Z.

When the blank shown in Fig. 1 has been properly stamped with the depressions O and O in the portions B and B and with the parts y and y atthe.angleshereinbefore de--' scribed, the chamber ofthe seal is formed in the following manner: That portion of the tongue designated as B is first bent over along the dotted line L. .The portion B, and with .it the portion B is then bent over in thesame direction'as the tongue alongthe dotted line L. The portion 13?, with its flanges y, is then bent over along the lines E and 6 upon the portion 13. The outer edges of the flangesy will then rest upon the portion B along the grooves g g. The portion B will then form the end of the chamber of the seal, as shown in Fig. 4:. When the portion B has been folded over upon the portion B, as above described,

the flanges w are folded over at the grooves g g upon the flanges y, and then may be socurely stamped or crimped, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4. After this operation has been performed the chamber of the seal will be fully formed, as shown in Fig. 4, with an opening therein between the binding-strapjand the portion 13.

- To use the seal, the door of the car to which it is desired to apply it is first closed, the

binding or looking strap B is passed through a staple, hasp, or similar device upon the door of the car desired to be sealed and also through a staple, hasp, fastening projection, or other like device upon the side of the car adjacent to the side of the closed door, andis inserted in the chamber of the seal through its aperture. The end of the strap is then forced along the floor of the portion B until the tongue at the point of bending L rests within the aperture A. Pulling back upon the binding or looking strap B, the portion B of the tongue will pass through the aperture A, and the end of the binding or looking strap will drop down into the position shown in Fig. 5. When the user of the seal attemptsto force the end of the locking-strap farther into the chamber, he will find it impossible to do so because of an obstacle in the way in the shape of that portion of the tongue designated as B. Any attempt to force the end of the strap into the back portion of the chamber of the seal will be resisted by the bent part of the tongue, whose end will simply be forced against the top of the chamber. It will readily be seen that it is equally impossible to remove the end of the strap from the seal by pulling, for that portion of the tongue designated as B is held within the aperture in the end of the strap and cannot be removed therefrom except by breaking the metal of the strap adjacent to the aperture.

The manifest advantages of the seal described over other car-seals now in use are that it is formed of a single piece, may be turned out in the form shown in Fig. 2, and ready for use by a single machine designed and adapted for that purpose, that it cannot be picked, that it may be cheaply manufactured, that-it may be made without the waste of stock, that it does not require the use of solder to make it serviceable, and that it is simple in construction.

WVhile I have described my invention with more or less minuten ess regarding details of construction and as being embodied in certain precise forms, I do not desire to be limited thereto unduly or any more than is pointed out in the claims. On the contrary, I contemplate all proper changes in form, construction, and arrangement, the omission of immaterial elements, and the substitution of equivalents as circumstances may suggest or necessity render expedient.

I claim- 1. In aseal formed of asingle piece of metal, the combination of a loeking-strap having an aperture in the free end, a hollow chamber formed of two flanged portions laterally folded in a given direction, one set of flanges being turned and fastened over the other set along grooves cut longitudinally upon the folded set of flanges, and a double tongue bent in the same direction as the flanged portions, the said tongue being adapted to be caught in the aperture in the free end of the binding strap through an opening in the chamber, all substantially as described and for the purpose specified.

2. A seal composed of a single strip of metal, having a tongue extending from one end, two like sets of flanges integral with the strip and slightly separated from each other near the tongued end, and having also an aperture through the free end thereof, the strip being laterally folded in a given direction, so as to make of the perforated end a binding or looking strap, and of the other end a hollow chamber having an opening therein between the folds of the strip and containing a double tongue bent inwardly away from the opening, the set of flanges nearer the perforated end of the strip being longitudinally turned and fastened over the set of flanges nearer the tongued end thereof, all substantially as described and for the purpose specified.

3. A seal composed ofa single strip of metal, having a double tongue extending from one end, two like sets of flanges integral with the strip and slightly separated from each other near the tongued end, and having also an aperture through the free end thereof, the strip being laterally folded in a given direction, so as to make of the perforated end a binding or locking strap, and of the other end a hollow chamber having an opening therein between the folds of the strip containing the tongue bent inwardly away from the opening, the set of flanges nearer the perforated end of the strip being longitudinally turned and fastened over the set of flanges nearer the tongued end thereof, the turned flanges being grooved or out along the lines of turning, the strip having depressions therein midway between the flanges,the flanges near the tongued end of the strip being angled so as to form the sides of the chamber and yet leave extending outwardly therefrom wings or flanges over which the grooved flanges are turned and fastened, all substantially as described and for the purpose specified.

4.. A single-piece car-seal consisting of a locking-strap, a hollow chamber, open at one end, and a locking-tongue within the chamber, the locking-strap having an aperture in the free end thereof, the other end running into and being integral with the floor of the chamber, the chamber being formed of two flanged portions and a narrow connecting portion to make its closed end, the flanges of the part forming the floor of the chamber being bent over the flanges of the part forming the roof and long sides thereof,the locking-tongue, integral with the portion of the chamber which forms its roof, being turned at the line of junction with such portion into the chamber and occupying position therein with its end turned forward in the form of a hook bent upwardly toward the roof of the chamber and having a distance from end to elbow greater than the chambers height.

CHAS. S. ELLIS.

Witnesses:

CHAS. S. BURTON, JANNnT'rE E. Law.

ICC 

